


A Cold Tale

by Hurtfulsteam



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Bigotry & Prejudice, Cold War, F/F, F/M, M/M, Original Character(s), Reader Has A Name, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader is male, Upset Monsters, trying to make it better
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2018-09-25 18:12:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9837098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hurtfulsteam/pseuds/Hurtfulsteam
Summary: 'Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity' 'We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools' - Martin Luther King Jr.





	1. Voyage

"So, Logan, are you ready for this," My father says to me as he straightens my yellow and black striped tie, "you can still back out if you want to, no one would think less of you,"  
  
I give a soft chuckle, "Dad, you need to stop worrying so much." I say with a small smile, "I'm going to be fine. Plus you and I both know that monsters only look scary."  
  
"Well, of course, I know that," He takes his hands off of my pristine looking tie, which is sure to be a mess by the end of the day, "I'm just… scared for you." He says in a quiet voice looking at the floor.  
  
I give him a sad smile, "I know dad, I know," An almost comfortable silence slowly settles on us.  
  
The door to the Oval Office opened revealing a man dressed very similarly to me and my father, the only difference being his choice of tie and dark sunglasses. "Mr. President, Executive One Foxtrot is ready to go." With that, he closes the door as he leaves, not even letting my dad thank him.  
  
He looks to the door and huffs, "They can be so stuck up at times." He looks back to me, "Ready?"  
  
I shrug, "I guess." I answer. He nods and starts to walk to the door. I'm suddenly hit with anxiety in my chest, "Hey, dad?" I ask.  
  
He stops and turns to me with an eyebrow raised, "What is it son?" He asks me, "I thought you were ready,"  
  
"Well… maybe," I shake the thought of bailing out of my head, "but I have a question," I hesitate for a moment, "Are you sure I can do this, I mean…" I say before trailing off. He waits quietly for me to finish, "I mean, how can you be so sure I'll be able to do this?"  
  
He smiles warmly at me and walks over to me. "Well," he starts, "you're the kindest person I know, along with the most intelligent, if anyone can help bring peace to this country divided, it's you." His smile doesn't fade, "There is no one else in this world I would trust with this task,"  
  
The anxiety in my chest fades a little. "Do you really mean that?" I ask him, not quite believing his words.  
  
"Of course, son. I know that you will do great," His smile only brightens.  
  
I sigh slightly, "Thanks, dad, I feel better now,"  
  
"Anytime Logan," he looks to the door, "Ready to go now?"  
  
"Yeah," I say with a smile.  
  
The walk to the plane is quiet and dull. I hope that the ride to Ebott isn't as boring as this, I think quietly. As we reach the plane, another secret service man points to the stairs, "Right this way."  
  
I look to my father, "Thanks for leading me here," I say to him, "It means a lot to me."  
  
He grins at me, "It's no problem; I just wish I could go with you." He says looking toward the plane.  
  
"It's okay dad, I think I'll be fine on my own, and besides, it's not like you could've stayed with me," I say trying to make him feel better.  
  
"Yeah, I guess you're right." He nods to the security guard, tapping his foot impatiently, "You should probably head out; I think security is getting antsy."  
  
I laugh lightly, "Yeah, it looks like he's about to throw me into the plane." My dad chuckles. "Goodbye dad," I say as I start boarding the plane.  
  
He looks at me with a sad gleam in his eye, "I'll miss you…bye." And with that, he turns around and walks away.  
  
I eye the aircraft with careful trepidation. I've never been a big fan of flying, and today I would be flying over two-thousand miles to the state of Oregon. I sigh and go to board the airplane.  
  
The trip goes smoothly, and around five hours later I arrive at the closest landing strip to Ebott, Oregon.  
  
"Ebott is only a thirty-minute drive from here," the security guard says looking at his watch, "We should head out now so you won't be late."  
  
"Okay." I yawn groggily, as I had just woke up from a nap on the plane. I've always slept on planes; to me it makes the flight go by faster.  
  
I enter the black SUV just a few feet away from the strip. The black leather seat would be comfortable, but the two security guards on either of my sides made it less so.  
  
"So, you excited?" the guard on my left asks as we take off.  
  
I smile and nod at him, "Yeah, but it's still a little scary," I pause for a second, "I mean being away from home for so long without any of my friends or family, that's a little unnerving."  
  
He grins good-naturedly, "I can imagine." He turns his head to look out the window.  
  
"Yeah… and then there's the part where peace between human and monster kind is on my shoulders."  
  
He nods his head, "Well, either way, I'm sure you'll do a good job. You are your fathers' son after all. First decent president in awhile,"  
  
The guard on my right scoffs quietly. I turn to him and ask, "Is something wrong?"  
  
The mood suddenly turns cold, "No sir," he says shortly. I have to wonder if it was something I said.  
  
After another few minutes we pull to a stop, "We're here," The guard driving the van says. Outside the window is a slightly dense forest and a mountain in the distance.  
  
As we get out I notice the guard that was on my right tenses while looking into the distance. I look to where he's staring and notice a small group of monsters standing a few yards away. One of them looks to be a fish person and the others look quite a bit like a pair of white anthropomorphic dogs holding paws. I felt a strong urge to go pet them. Though, that would probably be rude.  
  
I wave to the monsters hoping to get their attention. The fish lady seems to notice first and waves back, though she seems uncomfortable. The other two just nod their heads in my direction.  
  
I go to say hello to the trio when the tense guard grabs my shoulder, "Wait until he confirms that those are the monsters that are here to escort you," and with that, he releases my shoulder.  
  
The man that was on my left walks over to them with his hands behind his back. He talks to them for a few moments before he nods and walks back to us with the blue scaled woman following him closely.  
  
"Logan, this is Undyne captain of the Royal Guard," He turns to her, "Undyne this is Logan, ambassador on behalf United States of America."  
  
I smile softly and stick out my hand in greeting, "My pleasure Miss Undyne." After a moment she gives my hand a strong, but brief, shake. When she releases my hand it's in an indescribable amount of pain, but I keep the smile on my face.  
  
She opens her mouth to say something but closes it and coughs. "Hello Logan," she says after that with a strained smile on her face. It looked as if she was trying to stop herself from saying something else.  
  
"Do you want us to travel with you to Ebott, or are you okay walking alone with Undyne?" The guard asks me.  
  
I look at Undyne then the dogs and notice they are all without weapons, "I think I'll be okay on my own,"  
  
He nods and looks to Undyne, "Then we will be off, have a nice day," After that he walks to the van and waits for his companions to enter as well.  
  
As the guy who was sitting on my right in the SUV walks off he mutters something under his breath. It must have been pretty bad though because I can see Undyne scowl beside me.  
  
"Follow me," Undyne says when the van leaves. "It's about a fifteen-minute hike from here to the city," she says shortly.  
  
She starts walking off and I follow her. After a few minutes walking in silence I decide to break the quiet, "Hey, are you okay?" I ask as I catch up to her.  
  
"Yep," She snips, not meeting my gaze.  
  
"Sorry," I say feeling as if I had upset her.  
  
I can hear her sigh heavily, "I-It's not you, it's just," She pauses to think over her words, "It's just that I'm not used to being so formal… It's super weird,"  
  
"Oh," I laugh, "you know you don't have to be so formal around me, I'd honestly like everyone to be themselves around me," I smile at her surprised expression, "It would make becoming friends easier."  
  
It takes her a second to comprehend what I said, but afterward she smiles toothily, "I like you already," she says as she ruffles my hair. "Let's start over then," her smile doesn't falter as she points her thumb at herself, "My name is Undyne, captain of the royal guard, and certified badass!" The enthusiasm in her voice is refreshing compared to her earlier dull voice. She points the dogs following behind us, "That is Dogamy," the male looking dog waves, "and that is Dogaressa," the female one waves this time, "They're some of the royal guards best." They both blush at her compliment.  
  
I wave back at the duo, "Nice to meet you guys" I say, happy that the tense mood around us was lifted.  
  
"Nice to meet you too," they say together. They turn to look at each other as if surprised that they spoke in unison, they give each other a loving smile and start nuzzling their noses together.  
  
"Get a room you two," Undyne says ahead of me without even looking back. They both blush again and stop nuzzling noses.  
  
I laugh lightly at the exchange, "So I guess that they're a couple then?" I ask turning back to Undyne.  
  
She laughs as well; "Yeah, they're only the mushiest couple of all time," She smiles back at me. "Oh that reminds me," She dawns an almost predatory grin, "It's Mrs. Undyne, I'm married I'll have you know,"  
  
"You are?" I ask surprised, "To whom?"  
  
I can see her start to blush a little, "Her name is Alphys, and she's the most amazing monster you'll ever meet," She stares off dreamily. "She's actually one of the people you're supposed to meet up with, the Royal Scientist,"  
  
I nod happily, "She must be very smart," I say to her.  
  
She nods her head enthusiastically, "She's only the smartest monster in existence, it's amazing the things she's invented."  
  
"That makes sense considering she is the Royal Scientist," I say wondering exactly how advanced monsters are in the technology department. I've always been a big fan of science and technology.  
  
She laughs hardily, "Yeah, I guess that's true," She looks around for a moment, "We're almost there, five minutes tops till we get there," She turns back to me, "Wanna race?" she asks enthusiastically.  
  
"I don't know if I could keep up with you." I shrug; I have never been that good at sports, though that doesn't mean I'm not athletic I just prefer to work out at my own pace.  
  
She somehow smiles even wider, "You'll never know if you don't try."  
  
That was true though I still doubted my ability against her, "Okay, but you have to take it easy on me,"  
  
"Not on your life," She says, and with that, she runs full sprint ahead of me cackling all the way.  
  
It takes me a second to realize what just happened, but once I do my walking turns into running trying to catch up to her. "No fair!" I yell while laughing.  
  
I hear Dogamy and Dogaressa on my tail, pun intended. I try to speed up, even more, to keep Undyne in my sight. After maybe a minute of running I catch up to her standing beside a sign that says ‘Welcome to Ebott' with some houses behind it.  
  
"I won, take that loser!" She yells with her fists in the air. It looks as if she hadn't broken a sweat along the way.  
  
I try to catch my breath before I talk, "Wow you're fast," I say still huffing and puffing.  
  
"I know," She says smiling while striking a strongman pose. "By the way," she turns around and gestures to the city behind her, "Welcome to the city of monsters, Ebott!"  
  
I smile at the city behind her. This would be my home for the next couple of years.


	2. Ebott

I look down the cobbled streets of the city and notice that only one or two monsters were outside. "Where is everyone," I ask looking around.  
  
"Well they're probably at the town hall," she says pointing up the street, "Waiting for you of course,"  
  
"Oh…," I say quietly, "well hopefully I don't disappoint,"  
  
"As if," She says with a laugh. She then pats my back with tremendous force, "You're the first glimmer of hope we've had since the barrier fell eight years ago." She sighs softly, "You're the only shot we have at achieving true freedom."  
  
I can't help but feel guilty for their problems. "Sorry," I say kicking up some dust on my new shoes, "I wish there was more I could do."  
  
She starts to laugh again, "Trust me, what you're doing right now is enough, even if it doesn't work, you're giving us hope; something we haven't had in a long time."  
  
I smile at her enthusiasm, "Yeah… thanks, Undyne."  
  
"No problem," She nods her head up the street, "We should probably get going though, don't want to keep the king waiting."  
  
I can feel my heart speed up in anticipation of meeting King Asgore. When we start walking I can't help but notice that many houses around us are in the process of being built. "Hey Undyne," I start to ask, "Why are there so many houses around here being built,"  
  
"Well the underground was severely overpopulated, and with the limited amount of space we have up here we had to cram as many houses as we could into one place." She takes a moment to look around, "This is just the latest expansion onto the city. Most of the buildings are made of wood too because it's the easiest material to get in large amounts."  
  
I look at the houses and, true to her word, they were made of wood. "So does that mean that there are still monsters underground?" I ask curiously. She nods her head but otherwise remains quiet.  
  
As we get closer to the town hall the houses stop appearing, and in their place stores start popping up. A boutique here, a bakery there; it seems that the monsters have quite the economy for themselves.  
  
"We're here," she says drawing me from my thoughts.  
  
I look ahead and see a fairly tall wooden building surrounded by monsters. The structure almost looks like a church, but without the cross on top. As we near the crowd I notice that a few of the monsters look at me with blank stares.  
  
"Out of the way!" Undyne yells next to me, "Make a path for the human!" They immediately start to shimmy out of the way making a narrow divide for me and Undyne. As we approach the door I can't help but feel uneasy.  
  
As I open the door the first thing that greets me is a deep baritone laugh. Right behind it is a light jovial laugh, along with a screech of disapproval. I look to my left to see Undyne sigh and rub her temples.  
  
After she finishes the temporary stress relief she points to the large door ahead of me. "Asgore should be in there, I have to go get Alphys out of her lab and bring her here." She turns back to the door, "Good luck," She says as she walks out.  
  
When the door closes behind her, I look to the intimidating door in front of me. The minute I start towards the door I can hear another round of deep laughter along with a groan of defeat.  
  
I open the hefty door to see the sight of a smiling goat monster, as well as two skeletons; one tall wearing a red scarf and some sort of armor, the other short wearing a blue coat and fuzzy slippers, all standing next to a large desk and chair. The short one looks at me with a wide, but plastic, smile. The other two gaze at me with surprise.  
  
"hey bud, haven't you ever heard of knocking?" The smiling skeleton says, though, without moving his mouth at all.  
  
I feel my face start to heat up. I can't believe I had just barged into the room without knocking.  
  
The skeleton in blue chuckles at my misfortune, "s'ok kid, how about I tell you a joke," The taller of the two seems to glare daggers at him.  
  
"O-okay," I say with a slight stutter, my anxiety growing.  
  
His grin seems to get softer, "knock knock," He says starting a knock knock joke.  
  
"Who's there," I reply.  
  
"ulna," he says shrugging nonchalantly.  
  
I can feel my heart rate come back down to earth, "Ulna who?"  
  
"ulna-t tell." His grin seems to stretch a little wider. The tall one face palms and the goat monster laughs at the joke.  
  
I knit my eyebrows together, "Was that a pun and the punch line," I couldn't help but to smile slightly.  
  
He nods his skull, "pun-ch line," He says chuckling slightly.  
  
My grin cracks and I begin to laugh and groan at the same time, "That was terrible," I say jokingly.  
  
He shrugs, "bad jokes are my specialty," He sticks out his bony hand, "name's sans, sans the skeleton."  
  
I give him a sturdy handshake, "Nice to meet you, sans the skeleton," I say formally. After I release his hand he looks at it curiously then shoves it back in his pocket. "My name is Logan."  
  
"My name is Toriel," the goat monster says sticking out her hand. I shake her hand as well, "Please forgive Sans' earlier rudeness," Sans rolls his eyes, or, more accurately, his eye lights, "He didn't know we had an ambassador coming today."  
  
The skeleton chokes and coughs into his hand, "why didn't anyone tell me," He looks at me apologetically, "I thought you were another… tourist"  
  
Strange, considering the monsters were supposed to be segregated completely from human society. "Tourist?" I wonder out loud.  
  
"Protesters and radicals more like," Toriel says with a huff, "Sorry we shouldn't throw all of our problems at you so soon."  
  
I smile warmly at her, "It's okay, that's kind of why I'm here after all," I turn to the taller of the two skeletons, "And what's your name."  
  
"I am the great Papyrus!" He yells with a flourish of his hands, his cape flapping in a nonexistent wind.  
  
I nod my head in acknowledgment. "So, where is the king?" I decide to ask the room of monsters.  
  
"He should be on his way here now," Toriel answers, "He went to get our son from his studies,"  
  
"What is he studying, if you don't mind me asking?" I ask, choosing to pry a little deeper, wanting to know more about him.  
  
"He's studying different kinds of magic right now," she says with a smile, "Most boss monsters can learn a few different forms of magic. I, for example, can perform healing and fire magic, while Asriel can do both those and summoning magic."  
  
This only peaks my curiosity further. Magic was something I had never seen before; it was something I was very interested in examining further with my time here. "I think I understand fire and healing magic, but what is summoning magic?"  
  
"Summoning ma-," Suddenly the door I had closed behind me bursts open.  
  
"What's up nerds!" The booming voice of Undyne yells from behind me. As I turn around I can see a yellow lizard monster behind her.  
  
"U-Undyne, you shouldn't burst into r-rooms like that," The yellow monster from behind her says timidly.  
  
I wave to Undyne, "Hello, Undyne," I say, still wondering what summoning magic was, "and I assume that this is Dr. Alphys?" Alphys nod her head, "Well, Alphys it's nice to meet you, my name is Logan."  
  
"It's n-nice to meet you t-too." She says with a slight stutter in her voice. She looks around the room for a moment, "Is the king not here yet?" She asks in confusion.  
  
I shake my head, "Apparently the king is getting his son from some sort of magical studies."  
  
"Ah, y-yes, I forgot he did that today," She says with a nod.  
  
"Anyways as I was saying," Toriel shoots Undyne a disapproving look, who shrugs in response. Toriel then looks back to me, "Summoning magic is a form of magic in which the caster ‘summons' a weapon of some kind to aid them if they're in a fight." She looks back to Undyne, "Undyne, for example, can summon spears."  
  
"Spears are awesome," she says, and with a flick of her hand a spear appears within it, "See," She says with a wide grin, "Awesome."  
  
I stare in wonder at the electric blue spear, "Whoa, I've never seen magic before," I stick my hand out to touch it, but retract it, "Would you mind if I touch it?" I ask, still staring at the weapon.  
  
She laughs loudly, "Sure!" She then points the spear toward my chest.  
  
As I try to touch the shimmering spear again, the door opens for the third time, "We've made -,"  
  
Another tall hefty goat monster wearing robes and a crown stops in the middle of the doorway. He wears a shocked expression at Undyne, who is still pointing a spear at me, "What's going on here," He says still only halfway through the door.  
  
I look down at the spear then to Undyne and a boisterous laugh bubbles from my chest. At the same time, Sans and Undyne begin laughing as well. Something clatters to the ground, and the door shuts. As I begin to regroup from the hardy laughter, I see the king and his son have entered the room.  
  
I clear my throat and put out my hand for a handshake, "Hello King Asgore, I'm Logan, the ambassador," after the king shakes my hand, I do the same to the Asriel, unsurprisingly, another goat monster. He's wearing a green shirt and has a golden heart locket around his neck. He also has a medium sized pair of horns on his head, similar to his father, but smaller.  
  
He shakes my hand as well, "I'm Asriel Dreemurr," his forehead knits in confusion, "W-what happened, I couldn't see anything?" He asks.  
  
His father pipes in, "It looked like Undyne was about to attack Logan, but I'm assuming that she was only showing off her magic," He says looking at me for confirmation.  
  
I nod my head, "Yeah I wanted to know what the spear felt like," I admit.  
  
"Oh, I see," Asriel says with a slight smile on his face, "I'm glad no one did anything too drastic then."  
  
Asgore goes to sit at his desk, "Well now that we're all acquainted, let's get down to business," He pulls a stack of papers from his desk, and starts writing on the topmost one, "I need everyone to sign this paper saying that they attended this meeting," He passes the paper around and everyone, including myself, signs the paper. "Okay, now that that's out of the way, we need to discuss living arrangements for Logan, as well as the problems we need resolving around town."  
  
Papyrus is the first to speak, "He can live with Sans and me!" He yells excitedly looking towards me.  
  
"Hmm, I would be inclined to agree, but unfortunately you and sans don't have a spare room," He sighs loudly, "We honestly don't have much space anywhere up here."  
  
"Well," Asriel begins, "there's a spare room at my and mom's house," He says.  
  
Toriel's eyes brighten in remembrance, "Oh, yeah, it hasn't been used in so long I forgot about it."  
  
"Are you guys sure, I don't want to impose," I say rubbing the back of my neck. Both Toriel and Asriel nod.  
  
"Of course we don't mind Logan, after everything you're about to do for us we'd be happy to have you in our home," She says happily, "Right, Asriel."  
  
He nods his head again, "Yeah, it might even be fun; I could even show you around town whenever you like." He says smiling.  
  
"Okay," I say, "sounds good to me."  
  
Asgore nods his head in approval, "Okay now that we've solved that, onto the next order of business. The problems we've been having around town." He pulls out another piece of paper and starts writing. "First thing first, we need supplies from the outside to help monsters build and remodel. Along with that, we need help with the humans that keep getting into Ebott and causing problems."  
  
"we need more room to build too," Sans adds, "we're running into overpopulation issues again." The king nods and jots it down.  
  
"School supplies, and books to help teach the younger monsters," Toriel says. Asgore notes that down as well.  
  
Everyone stays quiet for a bit thinking. "Well," I start, "Most of the supply issues can be solved rather quickly, but the need for more building space would take quite a bit longer, it would have to pass through a few important people. As for the people disturbing the peace here, we can't tell my father because it might attract unwanted attention from the public. Rumors would spread about how monsters are the ones starting trouble. I'll have to talk to the guards on the blockades and find out what's going on." I stop and look around the room, "Anything else to add?" I ask everyone.  
  
They just shrug and shake their heads. "Ok, but the main problem is the distrust from humans," I say, "I'll be taking videos and pictures around town and posting them online with a short blog. That'll help people know you guys aren't bad. There's more we can do, but that should be fine for now."  
  
Everyone around me is smiling, "Thanks, Logan," I hear from Toriel, "It means a lot to us."  
  
"Well," I say stretching my arms, "if that's all, I wouldn't mind checking out the place I'll be sleeping."  
  
Toriel and Asriel nod their heads, "Okay sounds good to me." Asriel says.  
  
"Ok, Logan, we'll see you tomorrow then," Asgore says as he gets up from his desk.  
  
Asriel and Toriel head towards the door, me following behind them. "Bye everyone, have a nice night," I say to everyone before heading out the door with the goat monsters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter down! Thanks again for reading, it means a lot to me!


	3. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of this chapter is supposed to feel a little choppy and weird. It's supposed to reflect a string of uninterrupted consciousness.

I felt light. Everything around me was moving fast, then slow. There were images flowing past in a tidal wave of motion. Emotion after emotion slammed into me when I looked at them. Hate, love, sorrow, happiness, indifference. It swirled into a cacophony of sounds. Screams of pain and jovial laughter filled my ears. The images before me slowed to a crawl until I was focusing on a still frame of a human child. A few seconds passed then the child started to move to the right, where they were greeted by a patch of flowers, and what looked to be a young Asriel watering said flowers.  
  
The child walked closer until Asriel said something, the words garbled and unintelligible. The young human then shakes their head ‘no'. Laughter from Asriel fills the air. More muddled words leave his mouth as he turns around. I was only able to catch two words, ‘Chara' and ‘Frisk'. They mean nothing to me. They mean everything to me. It hurts to hear those words. It feels like they should be important, but I don't know why.  
  
Tears run down Asriel's cheeks. I can feel his pain. His empty soul aches and rips at the mention of Chara. Anger clouds his mind, he's angry at himself. A red light engulfs his tear streaked face. The human is holding a floating red heart, their soul. They gesture for the monster to take it. He shakes his head; he just wants to fade away. He wants everyone to forget about him, and move on.  
  
The human, Frisk, wants him to have another chance. They've lived a thousand lives; they're done with this world. They just want everyone to live happily together. Asriel shakes his head ‘no' again. Frisk sighs and presses a yellow button that appears beside them. The world shakes into oblivion. Thousand more pictures fly past. Another ‘reset', another run. The world's flying past hurt my head. I hear more voices screaming in my ears.  
  
A hallway comes into view. A skeleton and a child fight for the world. A thousand deaths and a thousand kills, they never asked for this.  
  
The patch of flowers comes back into view. Asriel sighs, and shakes their head. Frisk hits the button. Ten or ten-thousand more times Frisk says the same thing, "Live again Asriel." He always says no. Another run, another ‘no'.  
  
"I just want to Save you," They say.  
  
"Don't you have anything better to do?" They receive. The hollow vessel starts to crumble, his resolve shaking.  
  
"One more time," They say to themselves after a million tries. They say it after every try. They won't give up on him.  
  
He falls to his knees crying, "I don't want to die!" he screams. The dead heart within him screams for him to take it. He takes the soul. He feels again.  
  
The pain dulls. The heart aches. His friend is dead at his feet. He can still feel them in his new soul.  
  
More and more pictures fly past. Monsters, freedom, humans, and oppression. Ebott, his friends, and his family.  
  
I wake up with a start. My breath is ragged and my head is pounding. The images of the dream start to fade away, but I can still feel him. Seconds turn to minutes and those into hours. The darkness of the room starts to fade into a subtle morning glow. The dream is gone and all that's left are the names; ‘Chara' and ‘Frisk', his friends.  
  
A soft knock at the door breaks me from my reverie. "Logan?" It's Toriel, "Are you awake?"  
  
I smile at her soft voice, "Yeah I'm up," I say, getting up from the spare bed I was given. The door slowly opens and Toriel pokes her head in.  
  
"Sorry to bother you," she says in a quiet voice, "but breakfast is ready; I made pancakes." She smiles warmly at me. I can't help but smile back at her.  
  
"That sounds wonderful," I stretch my arms with a loud yawn. Her face takes a look of approval, "Is Azzy up?" I freeze mid-stretch, why did I call him that. I don't give people nicknames, not unless they want to be called something else.  
  
Toriel looks almost surprised for a moment before she goes back to her happy expression, "Yeah, he's been up for a little while." She goes to close the door, "Well I'll let you get changed, just come down to breakfast whenever you're ready."  
  
I look down at my bare chest from where I had taken the top of my suit off and just slept in the pants. I can feel myself turning red from having Toriel seeing me shirtless.  
  
I shake off the embarrassment and go to put on some more casual clothes that I had packed. I look between the many shirts that I had packed and decide to put on the red shirt with an eagle on the front. To go along with it I put on a pair of navy blue jeans that fit comfortably.  
  
Opening the door and making my way to the dining room across the hall I hear the sound of chatter between Toriel and Asriel. The talk simmers down as I approach the table. I wave to Asriel looking down to his food. He seems to notice me out of the corner of his eye and gives me a small nod.  
  
"Are you okay?" I ask Asriel.  
  
He looks at me with tired eyes and stifles a yawn, "Yeah," he says, "I'm just tired."  
  
"Did you not sleep well?" I ask as I sit down at the table where Toriel set out a plate of pancakes for me. He shakes his head as he repeatedly pokes at his food.  
  
We sit in silence for a few moments before Toriel clears her throat, "Asriel?" She says toward Asriel. He looks up at her silently, "Why don't you take Logan around town and let him take some photos and videos for the blog?"  
  
He nods his head in agreement, "Yeah, that sounds good to me," he turns to me, "Does that sound good Logan?" He asks me.  
  
"S-sure, that sounds great!" I say with more excitement in my voice than I had meant. He nods and stands up to grab the now empty dishes from the table. "Do you need any help?" I ask as he moves to the sink.  
  
He shrugs his shoulders without turning to me, "If you want to help, I won't say no." Toriel seems to glare at the back of his head.  
  
"Sounds good, I'll rinse and dry," I say before Toriel can reprimand him for letting me do chores. Her glare lightens as I sidle up beside Asriel.  
  
After waiting for the water to fill the sink he dunks both his hands into the water. I stare in confusion at the sight until the water around his hands starts to boil. At the same time, I hear Toriel get up from her chair, whisper thanks to Asriel, and go back to the living room.  
  
After Toriel disappears through the door he turns to the stack of plates, forks, butter knives, and spoons he then starts to clean them. "So, what's your favorite color?" I ask after a few of the dishes have been thoroughly washed, rinsed, and dried.  
  
He laughs lightly. "Is that why you wanted to wash dishes with me," He turns his head to look at me, "to make small talk?" He says through a smile.  
  
I can feel my face start to heat up in embarrassment. "M-maybe," I pause for a moment, "I just wanted to get to know you."  
  
He laughs again and says something under his breath I can't make out. "Red," he says after a beat of silence. "That's my favorite color, though I like all colors really," He pauses and passes a plate to me, "Except yellow, I don't like yellow that much."  
  
I chuckle lightly at his answer, feeling my embarrassment die down. "I don't think anyone likes the color yellow all too much," I think back to my black and yellow tie, "Except my dad, I think that's his favorite color," I blanch a little at the thought.  
  
"You?" Asriel asks after a few more moments of silence.  
  
"Hmm?" I ask as I look at him.  
  
He smiles softly, "What's your favorite color?" He asks while looking genuinely interested. I can't help but smile along with him.  
  
"Green," I answer happily, "It reminds me of home, I grew up in a rural area, so we had a lot of trees and open fields of grass around. I guess I've always been a big fan of nature," I say trying to elaborate on why I like the color so much.  
  
"Green is a nice color," he says turning back to the dishes. He hands me a few more dishes and before I know it we're done with all the dishes. He pulls the stopper in the sink and dries his hands. "So, do you have any preference on where we go first?" he asks.  
  
"I've only been to the city hall and this house, so I really don't know what's around here," I say to him, "so wherever you think would be best."  
  
He seems to contemplate this for a moment. "How about we go to either the library or Grillby's," he suggests to me.  
  
"Okay, how about we go to the library first, I wanna see what kind of books you guys have," I say with a smile. He nods in agreement then heads out of the kitchen door. Following I see Toriel in a comfy armchair reading a book by a fire.  
  
"Logan and I are about to head to the library, we'll probably be out a little while, so don't get worried if we come back late," Asriel says to his mother.  
  
She peers over her book and nods. "Okay, sounds fun."  
  
"Ready to go?" He asks after he turns to me.  
  
"I need to go grab my cameras then I'll be ready," I say, going back to my temporary room. After I grab two cameras I head back to the living room. "Ready," I say holding up both of my cameras.  
  
Asriel just nods his head and goes through the front door. "Bye, mom!" He yells to her.  
  
When we're out the door and walking down the road I hand him a camera. I smile at his confused face, "If you see anything pretty or nice, just snap a photo."  
  
"Why though?" He asks staring down at the camera in his hands.  
  
"Because you may capture something that I miss; it always helps to have two sets of eyes on these kinds of things."  
  
He tilts his head a little then shrugs, "Okay, you're the boss here,"  
  
As we walk down the small street I notice a group of small monsters wearing striped shirts on the other side of it. I bring my camera up to my eye and take a picture of them smiling and laughing. After they go by us I show the picture to Asriel.  
  
"How does this look?" I ask him.  
  
He takes the camera and looks at the small display window. "I like it, they're really happy in this," He hands the camera back to me while smiling. "You're pretty good at that."  
  
I can feel my face heat up again, "Y-yeah, it's been a hobby of mine for a few years now," I pause to take a breath, "My mother used to take me to parks and forests to take pictures of the scenery,"  
  
He smiles softly, "That sounds lovely."  
  
"It really was, I got to see the true beauty of nature and life because of her," I can feel my eyes start to water.  
  
"Hey, are you okay?" I feel Asriel put a hand on my shoulder. A quiet sob escapes my throat. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asks softly after a few moments of silence.  
  
I rub my eyes dry with the back of my arm. "Not, r-right now," I manage to choke out, "maybe later though."  
  
He nods and I feel his hand move from my shoulder to my back where he rubs small circles into it. We walk the rest of the way in solemn silence.


	4. Of Books and Blankets

"Here we are," Asriel says from beside me, breaking me out of my silent embarrassment from the earlier breakdown. I look upon the library, taking in its features. It's a moderately sized square brick building with the word ‘library' printed on the sign above the door. Surrounding it are a few different stores.  
  
"Looks nice," I comment about the exterior. I hear a clicking sound, and behind me a few paces away, Asriel's taking a picture of me and the building. "Did you get a nice shot," I ask with a small smile on my face. He nods his head as he walks towards me, camera in hand.  
  
"Here, have a look," I take the camera and examine the picture. "Are…," He starts after a moment of me looking at the photo, "Are you feeling better?" He asks quietly.  
  
"Yeah," I say handing back the camera, "I honestly haven't cried about that in a long time," I say to him, smiling lightly.  
  
He starts to smile as well, "Good, I was worried about you for a second there." He says as he rubs the back of his neck.  
  
"Thanks," I say warmly to him, "That means a lot to me."  
  
He shrugs casually, "Anytime." He nods his head to the door, "We should head in if we want to do other stuff today."  
  
"We weren't out here that long," I say in a teasing tone, heading for the door.  
  
Inside the library are, not surprisingly, books. The front desk to my left had the librarian checking out another smaller monster. In the back there are six shelves of books, seemingly color coded instead of anything related to the decimal system. In front of the shelves is a small circular table with two chairs on either side. All in all, it was a quaint little library.  
  
As I look at the red books, I notice a theme with them; they all seem to be books on monster traditions. I shuffle down to look at the blue books on the next shelf and they seem to be about magic.  
  
"If you're interested in magic I would suggest this book," Asriel says from behind me, startling me. He pulls down a book from the second to the top row and hands it to me. On the cover, it reads ‘Schools of Magic and how they work'.  
  
"Interesting," I say leafing through the pages, "but what about the other books?"  
  
"Most of these aren't worth your time." He says scanning the spines of the other books. "Monsters pass most of our knowledge down verbally, so we don't have many books. In fact, most of these books were written as book reports for school."  
  
"What about this one?" I ask gesturing to the book in my hands.  
  
"That one was written by the previous royal scientist," He looks back to the book in my hands. "He was very interested in the different kinds of magic,"  
  
"Is this the only book he wrote?"  
  
"I don't think so," He responds, "He had another book on the nature of a human's soul versus that of a monster's soul, but that one was lost some time ago."  
  
"How did he know stuff about humans if monsters were trapped underground for centuries, if not millennia?"  
  
He pulls down another book before answering, "I think he was a boss monster born before the war. I can't seem to recall much about him though," He looks through the book he just pulled down, "Boss monsters are ageless until they have kids, so he could have gone through most of his life without children."  
  
I stare at him in shock, "Monsters don't age?" I ask incredulously.  
  
He shakes his head, "No, boss monsters don't age, and only if they don't have kids. Regular monsters have a short lifespan in comparison, though even they can live for around two centuries."  
  
My mouth opens in surprise, "So those kids we saw on our way here, how old were they?"  
  
He pauses scanning his book for a moment. "I'd say they were probably anywhere from eight to eighteen, give or take a few years," He looks back to the blue covered book, "Monster kids mature at about the same rates as humans do, so we live most of our life in adulthood."  
  
"Oh, that makes sense, I guess," I shrug and walk down the rows of books. "Are there any books about monster biology?" I ask looking through the orange books.  
  
"I believe so." He says heading towards the dark green books. He scans them for a few moments before picking out one. "Here," he says handing me the book, "That book is about everything we know about ourselves."  
  
The book is small, seeming to be about twenty to thirty pages long. The books cover reads ‘Monster physiology'. "It's not much," I say, putting it with my other book.  
  
"Well, it's about as good as it gets," Asriel says with a shrug.  
  
"How many of these books have you read?" I ask as he leafs through, yet another book.  
  
"All of them." He says calmly, "I've read each one about three or four times."  
  
"How much free time do you have," I ask in surprise.  
  
He seems to tense at the question. "I used to have far too much," He says quietly.  
  
"Well, that's good for me, or else I'd have to read all the crummy ones," I say jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.  
  
To my relief, he starts laughing and his stance relaxes. "Yeah, make me do all the hard work for you," He says cheekily.  
  
I smile at his comment, the tense mood quickly forgotten. "So, mister ‘read every book fifteen times' are there any other books I need to read."  
  
He shakes his head, "Nope, everything else is basically just a reiteration of those two books. Well except the history ones, but if you want to know about our history you can just ask an old turtle I know; he's been around since way before the war."  
  
"That sounds like fun; I bet he has a ton of stories."  
  
"Yeah, if I had a gold coin for every time he told me a story I'd be rich," Asriel says laughing.  
  
"Well if that's all the books I need to learn about monsters, how about we go someplace else," I suggest to him.  
  
"Yeah that sounds good," He looks up to the counter, "but first we should check these books out."  
  
I nod my head in agreement as we head towards the librarian. "Can I check these books out?" I ask the monster politely.  
  
They smile at me, "Of course dear, anything for the ambassador."  
  
As we leave, waving goodbye to the librarian, something catches my eye from across the street. A group of monster children, along with some adults, were chatting animatedly while putting up colorful paper streamers and other decorations along the buildings.  
  
I nudge Asriel's shoulder, "What's going on over there?" I ask pointing to the small collection of monsters.  
  
His eyebrows knit in confusion for a moment before he seems to remember something. "I forgot that was this week." He looks back to me, "Souls Day is coming up in a few days."  
  
"Souls Day?" I ask intrigued.  
  
"Yeah!" He exclaims joyfully. "It's the day monsters get together and celebrate our friends, as well as the other monsters we care about in our lives." He says with a happy smile on his face.  
  
I feel a twinge of excitement in my chest, even though I have never been one for the holidays. "So it's kind of like Valentine's Day?" I say happily.  
  
He cocks his head in confusion, "What's Valentine's Day?" He asks.  
  
"Valentine's day is the day humans celebrate love; people usually give gifts, like flowers or chocolate, to the one they love,"  
  
This seems to confuse him even more. "One? What about their friends and family, do they get gifts as well?"  
  
I shrug my shoulders, "I think Valentine's Day is a day more for romantic love than platonic love."  
  
He turns and looks back across the street, "Souls day is a celebration of all kinds of love." He crosses his arms across his chest, "Though we do have a day for the more intimate kind." I can see his cheeks flush slightly as he stares at the monsters, "It's called The Day of Gold."  
  
"Gold?" I ask slightly confused.  
  
He nods his head, his cheeks slowly becoming a darker shade of red, "Rare and precious, like true love." He brings up his hand and coughs into it, "But like I said, it's for the more… intimate… kinds of love."  
  
"So it's a day where monsters have sex," I say with a mischievous grin on my face. His eyes look to the side quickly avoiding mine, yet he nods his head, the blush on his face deepening. I start to laugh at his expression.  
  
"W-what are you laughing about!?" He questions loudly.  
  
I wipe a stray tear from my eye, "N-nothing," I say trying to catch my breath, "It's just, you're acting like an innocent kid that's never had to talk about sex before." I say my laughter slowly dying down.  
  
He rubs the back of his neck, his blush fading away, "W-well sex is a deep thing for monsters to go through." He looks to the ground, "Monsters don't really have many romantic relationships in their life, one or two at most, and even then they only have sex with one person."  
  
"Oh," I say quietly, "I didn't know it was that big of a deal, sorry."  
  
He smiles lightly at me, "It's okay, I know you didn't mean anything malicious by it." After a moment of awkward silence he opens his mouth to speak, "So, we should probably keep moving if you want to see the rest of the town."  
  
"Anywhere else you think I should see?" I ask, wondering what the rest of the town had in store.  
  
"Well," He starts, "if you wanna take some nice photos I would suggest the park, but if you're hungry then we should go to Grillby's," He pauses for a moment in thought, "Or we could go to Muffet's Boutique and Bakery."  
  
"How about we go to the park," I say smiling.  
  
"Sounds good to me," He says nodding his head.  
  
We head down the street to the park, enjoying the mild weather of Ebott. Once we reached the park I could see that it was mostly empty, except for a small monster family having a picnic.  
  
I feel Asriel tap my shoulder. "Do you mind if we go talk to M, I haven't seen him in ages," He says pointing to the monster family.  
  
"Sure," I say with a smile on my face, "I'm always up for making new friends."  
  
"Cool," He says happily. "Hey, M!" Asriel yells, cupping his hands to his mouth.  
  
When M turns his head to see who yelled at him he starts smiling at the sight of Asriel. "Yo dude! Come and join us!" He yells back. Asriel nods his head vigorously and starts walking towards them, gesturing for me to follow.  
  
Once we reach the blanket on which they're sitting I finally get a good look at the monsters. M is a reptilian type monster with no arms; he is also wearing a solid yellow shirt and tan shorts. His partner is of similar makeup, but she has a pink hue to her.  
  
"How's it going guys," Asriel says sitting beside M, "This is Logan by the way." He gestures to me and I wave at the duo.  
  
"We're doing fine, just taking the kids out for the day," M says, nodding to two children playing a few feet away.  
  
I decide to take a seat next to the pink monster, "Hi," I say quietly to her.  
  
"Hello, Mr. Ambassador, It's good to finally meet you," She says with a happy smile, "My name is Lia by the way since my husband can't introduce me properly," She turns her head and gives M a mock glare.  
  
"Well it's nice to meet you, Lia," I turn to M chatting lightly with Asriel, "And you too, M." He looks at me and nods with a smile then turns back to Asriel.  
  
Lia rolls her eyes, "He doesn't mean to be rude, honest."  
  
I laugh, "It's okay we came here to relax anyway," I look to the kids playing tag by head-butting each other.  
  
She seems to notice where I'm looking, "The light blue one's name is Tili, and the green one's name is Basil."  
  
"Those are beautiful names," I say with a smile, turning back to the kids, "They look like they're having fun."  
  
"Yeah," She says with a laugh, "I'm just glad they're playing outside today. No mess to clean up,"  
  
Almost suddenly, Basil falls to the ground face first. I get up, without thinking about it, and walk over to him. As I kneel beside him I notice tears starting to form in his eyes. "Are you okay?" I ask him.  
  
"No," He says in a small voice, trying to hold back tears, "I hurt my head."  
  
I look at the top of his head and notice a scratch running down the side of his cheek.  
  
Lia comes up beside me, "Honey, are you okay?" She asks the small monster kid.  
  
"He got a cut here," I say looking at her while running my thumb over the medium sized scratch.  
  
She takes a moment to examine the scratch, "That doesn't look too bad, I'm sure you'll be fine sweetheart!" She says happily, kissing Basil on the forehead.  
  
He nods his head sniffing lightly, "Thanks, I feel better now," He says standing up. I look back to the scar and see that it definitely looked better; I chalk it up to healing magic from the kiss. As I get back up I notice that Asriel and M are beside me too.  
  
"Well," M says with a sigh, "we should go home and clean the kids up," He says to his wife. She nods her head in agreement.  
  
"Okay," Asriel says dejectedly, "It was fun hanging out with you again, though,"  
  
"Yeah, and it was nice to meet you, Logan," He says with a smile.  
  
I nod my head, "It was nice to meet the both of you as well."  
  
M turns back to Asriel, "If you ever want to hang out again, just stop by our house; you're always welcome there." Asriel smiles with a nod. "Well, see you guys soon," He says as his family turns to leave.  
  
"Bye dude!" Tili says as she runs past my legs to catch up with her mother.  
  
I hear a growl from beside me; I turn to see Asriel holding a hand on his stomach. "Hungry?" I ask with a small chuckle.  
  
"Yeah," He looks at me, "You?"  
  
I shrug, "A little, do you want to go somewhere to eat?"  
  
He nods his head, "I think it's about time I show you the best bar in Ebott," He says happily.  
  
"Grillby's?"  
  
"The one and only," He says with a smug smile.  
  
I laugh lightly, "Lead the way," I say as we start to leave the park.


	5. Clash

After a few minutes of walking in comfortable silence, taking pictures of anything that caught our eyes, we arrive at another brick building. This time, though, the sign on the top of the building said ‘Grillby’s’. A strong scent of smoky apples and food surrounded the restaurant. I take a quick picture of the building in front of me and smile.  
  
Asriel takes a deep breath from beside me, “You’re gonna love it here,” He says excitedly.  
  
“I certainly hope so,” I say, cracking a small grin, “all you’ve done today is hype this up today.”  
  
He shrugs, “What can I say, they have good burgers.”  
  
I chuckle lightly as we head into the restaurant. Inside the building, the aromas from outside smell even more powerful, accompanied by the weak smell of alcohol. A quick glance around the building reveals a dimly lit room, except for the slightly stronger light coming from the bar, a few occupied booths and tables, and Sans on the far right side of the bar talking animatedly to the bartender.  
  
I turn to Asriel, “Wanna go sit with Sans?” I ask gesturing towards the small skeleton.  
  
“Sure,” he says while shrugging.  
  
As we approach the bar, I notice that the source of light was coming from the tall bartender who was wearing a suit-vest.  
  
“Hey, Sans,” I say from behind the skeleton, “Mind if we sit with you.”  
  
“go ahead,” he says in his lazy voice, “I don’t mind the company.” His attention goes back to the bartender as I sit next to him and Asriel next to me. “hey grillby, have you met the ambassador?”  
  
Grillby looks at me with a passive gaze, “Hello,” He says quietly then goes back to wiping down the bar.  
  
“he’s not much of a talker,” He says, thumb pointing to Grillby, “but he’s one heck of a cook.”  
  
“That’s good,” I say happily, “Asriel and I were just getting hungry.”  
  
“Yeah, and I was craving a burger,” Asriel says, joining the conversation.  
  
“So, what sorts of food do they have here,” I ask Sans.  
  
“well, you can get burgers or fries,” He shrugs, “that’s about it though,”  
  
“Ok,” I say pondering why you only had two options, “I guess I’ll get a burger,” Grillby nods his head and goes into a room on the left, presumably the kitchen.  
  
“so what have you guys been doin’?” Sans asks, glancing between the two of us.  
  
“We went to the library and the park, but that’s been about it,” I say eying the door Grillby went through, hungry for my burger.  
  
“the library,” He says with apathy, “sounds boring,” He takes a drink of a thick red liquid in a glass.  
  
Asriel huffs beside me, “Says the guy that spends most of his time hanging out in a bar, at least we-,” He is interrupted by Grillby setting down a plate in front of him then putting down a similar plate by me. “Oh, thanks, Grillby,” He says happily.  
  
“Thanks,” I say to the bartender, “I hate to ask, but can I get something to drink?”  
  
Grillby cocks his head to the side in thought, and then suddenly nods his flaming head. He goes under the bar and brings out a bottle of a strange greenish liquid.  
  
“that’s a good one,” sans says as he nurses his drink.  
  
“What is it?” I ask as Grillby pours me a glass. Sans just smiles mischievously at my question, and before I can ask again the drink is set next to my plate. “Thanks… I think,” I say to Grillby. I hold up the beverage and take a sip before I can psych myself out of it.  
  
The drink slides down my throat like a thick sludge. I cough as it goes down and frown at the aftertaste. It tastes of apples and a thick, bitter, smoke. Then it quickly turns into electric static on my tongue. “My tongue is numb,” I say after a moment.  
  
“Interesting,” Grillby says after a few more seconds.  
  
Sans chuckles quietly, “that was grillby’s way of saying ‘welcome to ebott’,” He points to the glass still full of the green concoction, “it’s called ‘insight’, cuz it lets you taste the magic of whoever’s sharing it with you.  
  
“Share?” I look over to Grillby and he’s holding a shot glass with some Insight in it.  
  
“May I?” The bartender asks in a quiet voice.  
  
I nod my head, wondering what the liquid would taste like for him. He quaffs the drink, then says, “Tastes like nature, trees and streams, with an aftertaste of ice,” He pauses and looks at the empty glass, “Made my tongue cold.”  
  
“sounds _ice_ ,” Sans says with a pun.  
  
“You’ve used that one before,” Asriel says from beside me, still enjoying his burger, “Many times in fact.”  
  
“no need to be so _cold_ ,” He says with a smile that reaches his eyes.  
  
“That one too,” Asriel says finally looking at Sans with a bland expression.  
  
“Looks like I got your _goat_ , _ewe_ know I was just _kid_ -ding,” He says with emphasis on each of the puns. I can’t help but to stifle my laughter behind my hand. I look over to Asriel and see that he’s shaking his head with a wide smile on his face.  
  
“I hate when you use that line because it makes me laugh each time.”  
  
Sans gives him a friendly wink, “that’s why i do it.”  
  
I smile at the both of them then go turn back to my food and start eating. The burger didn’t taste of beef, but something earthier in flavor. It looked like a giant lichen of some sort. It tasted good, but it didn’t have the texture of a regular burger either. I give Grillby a nod of approval and resume eating my food.  
  
After a while of eating and idle chatter, Asriel and I leave the bar. “So anything you want to do now?” Asriel asks as we walk down the, now decorated, streets.  
  
“Can I see you practice some magic?” I ask excited to see magic in action.  
  
He scratches his chin, thinking for a moment; “Sure,” he says finally, “I don’t see why not.”  
  
“Sweet!” I happily exclaim, “Where do you usually practice magic?” I ask, calming down.  
  
“I usually practice just outside the city, in a glade a little into the forest.”  
  
“Sounds peaceful,” I comment wistfully.  
  
He laughs a little, “Yeah, it’s perfect for meditation and intense practice.” After a few moments we arrive back at his house, “I need to grab a few things first then we’ll be ready,” I nod my head and wait outside the house for him to grab his things. I look at the forest just down the road and smile. Maybe I could snap a photo of some of the wildlife.  
  
After a moment of contemplating nature, Asriel comes out of the building with a bag on his shoulder. “Ready?” He asks as he walks closer to me.  
  
“Yep,” I say nodding my head  
  
After a few minutes of walking through the forest, we come to a clearing with a fallen log and a stump in the middle. “Is this the place?” I ask looking around the small glade.  
  
“Sure is,” He says happily, setting his bag on the stump.  
  
I give the bag a puzzling look, “So, what’s in the bag,” I ask him.  
  
“Some food in case I get tired,” He holds out a wrapped package to prove his point. “Water, for a fire if I start one,” A bottle of water comes out of the bag, “A change of clothes, and a surprise for you,” He pauses for a moment, “Well a surprise if you agree to it, you don’t have to though.”  
  
This had me curious, “What’s the surprise?” I ask intrigued.  
  
“After the demonstration, you can see it,” He says with a playful smile.  
  
I can’t help but smile back at the cheerful goat monster. “Okay, sounds good to me.”  
  
“Sit there,” I do as he asks and wait in quiet anticipation for him to start. “Okay, let’s begin,” He says with his eyes closed, talking mainly to himself I presume.  
  
He takes deep breaths, keeping his eyes closed. Suddenly his eyes open, and they’ve taken on a darker hue. He punches the air in front of him and a jet of fire comes at me. I gasp as the fire washes over me, but only leaves me slightly warmer. Apparently, he can control the temperature of the fire.  
  
Before I can think about it further he’s already moved on to making other jets spew from his fists. His paws become cloaked in red-orange flames, and he starts moving like a dancer. Flames surrounding him and he moves with the fire becoming one with it. Abruptly the flames die out and now he’s holding a pair of swords, made of a white glowing magic. His dancing becomes smoother, like flowing water. The fire comes back just as quickly as it disappeared, sheathing the swords in a bright flame. Whenever his swords swing in this dance of his, more fire follows. It’s beautiful in a scary type of way. I can’t help but think that if humans went to war with monsters that no one would be able to kill Asriel. That gives me a pleasant buzz in my chest.  
  
And before I know it the dancing is over and Asriel is bowing with a smug smile on his face. “Did you enjoy it?” He asks standing back up and moving towards me.  
  
“Obviously,” I say as I stand next to him. “It was breathtaking.”  
  
I can see his face heat up lightly. “Thanks,” We stand in awkward silence for a moment before he turns back to his bag. “Do you want to spar with me,” He asks holding up a pair of wooden swords with a big childish grin on his face.  
  
“I-I’ve never swung a sword before,” I say eying the dull piece of wood for a moment. There’s a couple of letters in childish scrawl at the bottom of the fake blade, ‘CD’.  
  
“Don’t worry about that, I’ll go easy on you,” He says his smile taking on a more genuine likeness.  
  
“Okay, I’ll try it,” I hear my mouth say without any input from me, “just as long as we’re going easy.”  
  
He nods his head in agreement and takes a few paces away from me, “Ready?” He asks, his sword at the ready.  
  
I take a few steps away from him and ready my sword as well. I hold it one-handed, unlike Asriel, who took the hilt in both hands. I give it a few test swing and point it at Asriel then I nod my head.  
  
After a moment of silence, Asriel rushes me down and tries an overhead swing. I dodge to the left of his charge and quickly counter with a thrust to his side. The wooden swords crash together as Asriel blocks at an inhuman speed. He then pushes my blade to the right leaving my stomach wide open, and he jabs at the opening.  
  
I do the only thing I can do and block the strike with my empty left hand. I push against the weapon, but it doesn’t move. I can see the surprise on his face at my move like it was something he hadn’t expected me to do.  
  
He jumps back a few feet before my sword could take the opening my block had caused. He huffs and takes a calculating look in his deep green eyes. I decide to not give him a chance to plan and rush him with my sword ready to attack. He looks surprised for a moment then smiles wickedly.  
  
He begins to run at me too, his shoulder forward holding his weapon ready at his side. He’s too quick for me to adjust my speed and when I crash into him I fall on my butt. Before I can recollect my thoughts I feel his sword poke me between the eyes. “I win.” He says haughtily as if I even had a chance, to begin with.  
  
“Congrats,” I say still gathering my bearings.  
  
He holds out his paw for me to take, “Here, let me help you up.” I take his hand and stumble to my feet, “Easy there. I didn’t mean to hit you that hard.” He says in a sheepish tone.  
  
“It’s okay,” I say feeling better, “The ground hit me harder than you did.”  
  
He laughs lightly, patting me on the back, “Well I was the one that pushed you to the ground.”  
  
I laugh alongside him. “That was fun. We should do it again sometime.” I say hoping he wouldn’t mind sparring with me in the future.  
  
He smiles and nods his head vigorously, “I’d love that. You’re a lot better at swordplay than you think you are.”  
  
I smile at his compliment, “Thanks.” I take a moment to look at the darkening sky, “We should head back to your house, it’s getting dark.” I say gesturing to the sky.  
  
He looks up. “Yeah we probably should,” He looks back to me, “Or.” He says with another smile plastered across his face.  
  
“Or?” I ask wondering what he had in mind.  
  
“Or, we could go to the mountain a look at the stars,” He suggests, “I haven’t been stargazing in a while.”  
  
I think on it for a moment, before coming to a conclusion. “Sure, I don’t see any harm in that,” I say thinking that it could be fun to look at the constellations.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this!  
> If you have any comments, questions, or concerns leave them in the comments below.


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